"Where are we?" Itsuho turned her head to Dazai as she felt a familiar salty smell.
"Somewhere near a harbor?"
"You are too perceptive, Itsuho-chan. If I didn't see that you really don't have eyes, I would have thought you were faking it"
Dazai chuckled as he signed Atsushi to sit on a box in the warehouse that they were in. "Sit down, Atsushi-kun. We will be here for a while"
The boy sat on it and hugged his knees as Itsuho patted his head while sitting next to him, giving a bit of a push to be brave.
Seeing that, Dazai pouted dramatically. "Why not sit next to me, Itsuho-chan? Am I not good enough?"
"Yeah", she bluntly said as Atsushi finally laughed, even for a moment.
"You wound me, Itsuho-chan" Dazai rubbed his chest for a while. "Since you are so pretty, I will forgive you"
"Nice one", she smirked.
Soon the exhaustion started to take over her, both mentally and physically.
Then she remembered that she hadn't had a rest for a long time, whether it was in the lab when she was planning her escape, after the three years of planning and when she escaped while destroying the place, or even then, after she traveled to a different world.
There wasn't any time for her to rest until now, as all of those matters started to take a toll on her as she yawned.
"Are you tired, Itsuho-san?" Atsushi looked at her and asked, while Dazai just kept looking at her silently like a hunter, as that gaze was sharp enough for her to notice it as she smirked faintly.
"Bit", she placed her hand on his head.
".....Will it really appear here?" The boy asked. Itsuho stayed silent as he waited for Dazai's answer, who took out a book to read, though it was questionable that the book wasn't wet at all.
"That's right" he turned the pages and didn't look away from the book.
Itsuho leaned on another box as Atsushi was caught in a mental struggle. Even though she couldn't see it, she felt it thoroughly, even though she chose not to say anything.
"You don't need to worry." Dazai took his eyes off the book. "It isn't much of an enemy. Even though I look like this, I am still an 'Armed Detective'. If not, still Itsuho-chan is here," He said the last part half jokingly.
"Hm?" She opened her eyes, revealing two black holes, then instantly closed them as she sat straight and patted Atsushi's head. "Don't worry, it is just a tiger"
"Itsuho-chan, have you hunted a tiger before?" Dazai looked at her, intrigued by the way she said it nonchalantly.
"No" She shook her head, much to the disappointment of the boy who keeps his hope up. "I did hunt many bears"
"Bears?" Dazai raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit concerning. How did you survive?"
"Most of them are a nuisance. Besides, bear meat is quite a delicacy. Plus, that has a high demand"
"So shinobis are way more versatile" There was a hint of admiration in his gaze.
"Hn"
"Haha, you two are great, full of confidence" Atsushi's head lowered as her hand on his head was suspended in the air as she withdrew it.
"Someone like me who said to be 'useless' even at the orphanage....on top of that, not knowing where today's bed is nor where tomorrow's meal is coming from." She turned her head to sense him as she 'looked' at him.
"If such a guy dies, no, I meant as well die by being eaten...."
"That's quite a view of life you have, Atsushi-kun" She paused for a moment as she fell into deep thought.
"If you focus on yourself too much, you will only see the bad, despair, regret and futility. But you know, Heaven would never seal all of one's doors to be alive or the ways of living, Atsushi-kun. There are only people who are despairing while succumbing to their personal emotions, their own comfort zones and negativity...."
She sighed as something was weighing on her head. "Well, most of those paths are might so hard, terrible. Some are scared to take those paths because they are too hard....or maybe too painful, too bloody, but they forgot one thing.... You have to keep moving forward....only then can you see what is ahead of you.....whether it is a paradise..... or a hell"
Atsushi didn't take his eyes off her as Dazai also looked at her with slightly widened eyes.
"No matter how hard... no matter how sad, you have to go on. That's what life is" He rephrased what she said in a low voice.
Dazai looked at her deeply. "That's quite a way to describe a life, Itsuho-chan" Then he looked out and looked at the moon that was emerging from dark clouds.
"Now then.....it's about time" The boy also looked as a sharp noise came from outside; something fell from the roof.
"That's right it definitely him!
Dazai-san, Itsuho-San!" Atsushi said in panic as he almost stuttered.
"Atsushi-kun, calm down and sit back", Itsuho said, turning to the boy.
"How can I calm down, Itsuho-san! That is the man-eating tiger! It came to eat me!"
The panic-stricken boy looked around, not knowing whether to run or not, as if those two were here to watch him if he tried to quit being bait and leave.
"Sit down, Atsushi-kun. The tiger won't come from such a place." Dazai closed the book, speaking in an undeniable tone.
"How did you know that?!"
"Because this is quite a strange situation, Atsushi-kun", Itsuho said leisurely, not minding the boy's panicked state.
Dazai's eyes widened for a moment as he smiled like he saw something interesting.
"If the orphanage is having trouble, kicking one kid won't fix anything. So, in other words, Atsushi-kun, it seems more like you are the trouble they want to kick away. Plus, you guys said something about special abilities, right?" Itsuho stretched out her limbs as she explained.
"Not bad, Itsuho... figuring out from that much little information", Dazai chuckled.
"What do you two mean by that?!" Atsushi looked at them.
"Just because an orphanage has trouble, do they drive out children? It isn't, when it wasn't even in such a rural area to start with"
"I see, so when an orphanage is in a more town vicinity, they won't drive out children. I keep that in mind" She rubbed her chin.
"I still don't get it" Atsushi looked at them.
"Well, you came to town two weeks ago, and the tiger also appeared two weeks ago." Dazai stood up.
"And according to Kunikida, it appeared in the river vicinity four days ago, right?" Itsuho stood up and leaned in to a box.